Dave Hinde Carbone Pro

Pross

OK, I know his reputation on many forum and on his ebay site but I was intrigued by his ad on the back of this week's comic for a carbon bike weighing less than 16lb with Dura Ace Di2 for £2895. As the gruppo itself is around this price it just seems too good to be true. If it wasn't for his reputation the Ultegra or Athena version of the bike would be very appealing. My question is, leaving aside his personality issues, are his bikes any good? Or is it a case of not getting a bike when you've handed over your cash?

STEFANOS4784

Never dealt with him but many must have or he wouldn't still be trading. Asking on here though is pointless unless you want a tyrade of recommendations to avoid like the plague.


*standing by*

cjw

STEFANOS4784 wrote:

Never dealt with him but many must have or he wouldn't still be trading.

Some people also send money to some former African ministers to 'release' the frozen bank account. After having read that these are all cons, would you send them money? You have read on many many forums the reviews and feedback. Most likely the ones who have tried have not done their research first.

To the OP...

If you decide to try him, I have a great opportunity for you. Could you just send me your credit card detail and security code. It's all legit and honest. I promise you :twisted:

Pross

I guessed that would be the reaction, it's a shame as I'd be able to get an Athena equipped carbon bike for the sort of budget I'm looking at spending. Now, assuming he must actually deliver bikes to some people or he'd be inside by now, how on earth can he build a Di2 equipped carbon bike for less than £3k? Surely based on economy of scales the major players should be able to put bikes out cheaper? Planet X save money by not marketing and still can't do this! :shock:

softlad

you are right when you say the short answer would be to try one. Although he does sound like a deeply unpleasant man, he would have been banged up by now if he was seriously bent.

gabriel959

Pross wrote:

Planet X save money by not marketing and still can't do this! :shock:

I think you answered your own question there. Don't be silly and don't do it.

cjw

And it is not just forums who have problems with him.

Advertising Standards;

http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications ... n_id=38390

Pross

Actually just did a similar build to the one in the advert using Ribble's bike builder using the Nero Corsa frame but had to use Chorus as they didn't have an Athena option and it came out over £200 cheaper Shame they haven't got any proper size Nero Corsa's in stock though.

Shouldn't have done that as I'm now thinking of getting a bike built by Ribble just as I was starting to settle on a Scott!

STEFANOS4784

cjw wrote:

STEFANOS4784 wrote:

Never dealt with him but many must have or he wouldn't still be trading.

Some people also send money to some former African ministers to 'release' the frozen bank account. After having read that these are all cons, would you send them money? You have read on many many forums the reviews and feedback. Most likely the ones who have tried have not done their research first.:

Completely irrelevant comparison, if those scammers are caught they are arrested. What they do is illegal, what Hinde does obviously is not. By the way, i wouldn't order off of him, just sayin......

cjw

Not really irrelevant. The point you made was that people must deal with him or he would not be in business. My point was not that what he does is illegal, but that some people fall for anything and that people trading with him have probably not done their research.

If you have read pages and pages of problems, why risk it.

STEFANOS4784

Meh, can't be @rsed with this :arrow:

crankycrank

With all the bad reports on Dave Hinde and you're still considering buying from this guy? I would say you'de be a fool to spend your money there. Sure the odds are slightly in your favour of getting a good deal but you would be just supporting a guy who is a known creep just to save yourself a few quid and if it goes bad are you just going to accept that you've been had or will you demand that some publicly funded agency help you gain satisfaction? A little common sense and ethics goes a long way here.

PeteinSQ

I actually know someone with a carbon Hinde mountain bike which they're happy with so obviously some people do get what they pay for.

Dealing with him may not be straightforward and could go wrong but then it might not. I'm not much of a gambler personally so...

Pross

crankycrank wrote:

With all the bad reports on Dave Hinde and you're still considering buying from this guy? I would say you'de be a fool to spend your money there. Sure the odds are slightly in your favour of getting a good deal but you would be just supporting a guy who is a known creep just to save yourself a few quid and if it goes bad are you just going to accept that you've been had or will you demand that some publicly funded agency help you gain satisfaction? A little common sense and ethics goes a long way here.

I'm not considering buying from him, I said it was a shame the bike was through him as it seemed a really good deal (although my build at Ribble has shown it isn't that good). I was just wondering if the bikes he actually does supply are any good and how he can manage to build a whole bike with Di2 for about the same price as the group on its own.

I'm probably going to buy a Scott Addict or CR1

giant_man

There are countless other decent carbon bikes out there, it's just not worth the potential hassle surely.

cougie

If I was spending THREE GRAND on a bike - I really wouldnt be contemplating giving it to a shop thats had so many dissatisfied customers.

A few wouldnt bother me - but this is another level all together.

Could you be sure the bike would weigh 16lbs ? (not that that should matter to most of us ?)

Lots of nice bikes out there for a lot less dosh.

Percy Vera

I emailed a few bike shops last Sunday night, Dave Hinde was the only one to get back to me Monday morning (Paul Hewitt still hasn't got back to me).

I ordered my handbuilt wheels around 3.30pm on Monday afternoon from Dave HInde, and I was told they would be up to 5 days. They arrived this morning at 10am and are excellent!!!!

Jim (the guy on the phone) was very friendly and informative. Will definitely use again.

The problem is (as I've said on another thread ref. Boardman bikes) you will always get more people moaning on the internet than you will get praising a business.

Out of the people slagging DH off, how many have actually been a customer or is it Chinese whispers? Something from 2004 keeps getting dragged up also. This was 1 complaint from a guy in Ayrshire, was it not?

So for those of you who are put off by people on this forum, why? They are strangers, could even be 14 year olds having a laugh! Make your own mind up. Call the guy and talk to him.

He has been around for years, no company can be that bad and still be in business!

I will definitely use him again!

cougie

I did buy a wheel off him years back. Took a lot longer to get it than planned.

Glad you got your stuff Percy - but you are a stranger too - so why should the OP trust you either ? :shock:

cjw

Percy Vera wrote:

I you will always get more people moaning on the internet than you will get praising a business.

Not if they're a good company.

Look up Wiggle, CRC, Merlin. You get the very very occaisional post of something going wrong and many always recommending them for excellent service, next day delivery, immediate resolution of problems.

Don't just trust this forum... Google Dave Hinde and see what comes up :evil:

Percy Vera

cougie wrote:

I did buy a wheel off him years back. Took a lot longer to get it than planned.

Glad you got your stuff Percy - but you are a stranger too - so why should the OP trust you either ? :shock:

they shouldn't but that's my point, I could be a 14 year old having a laugh!

My other point was the people with a bad experience will be the first to air their views on an Internet forum. If I didn't read sooo much negative stuff on this forum regarding DH you wouldn't even have known I ordered my wheels on Monday afternoon and got them today. Why would I bother telling you? I got the service I expected (like the thousands of others) but if my wheels didn't turn up until after Christmas then you would have heard about it.

If anyone would like to come and see my wheels, PM me.

clanton

I think the difference is that your experience around here seems to be the exception to the rule. There are indeed plent of "CRC/Wiggle/Winstanleys are crap" threads but they all attract their share of defenders in due course. Furthermore you'll find loads of threads praising their service and , crucially, their AFTER SALES service when things go less than perfectly (which does happen with all companies). Contarst this most sharply with Dave Hinde!

Percy Vera

Yeah that is true, the exception to the rule on this forum and I am talking from my personal experience. Not hearsay throughout the internet. I have a mate who bought a pair of MTB wheels from DH and he is more than happy with the product and service but he doesn't even come on this forum, how many more people like that could there be?

I 'googled' DH as someone suggested and guess what came up? This forum as well as a couple of other forums, with people moaning about him, could they be the same people hiding behind different identities? :shock:

DH from what I can see is a LBS taking on the big boys with fantastic prices. Fair enough he won't get it right everytime but he is human. Wiggle are a dedicated mail order outfit with after service staff etc off course they are going to get it right more often than DH.

Obviously, we can all agree to disagree, but I thought I would share my shopping experience.

Tom Butcher

OK as we are sharing experiences. Mine is that he sent me the wrong stuff, asked me to return it so he could replace it with the correct stuff - then refused to either refund or send replacements for what I'd returned. After laughing at me down the phone and telling me to phone trading standards if I wanted because they could do F all about it I went to an ebay fraud claim and ended up getting a sum of money which just about covered what I was owed about 4 months later. The difference between DH and any other bike shop I've dealt with is some make honest mistakes, some are incompetent, but his knowingly tried to rip me off.

alfablue

Percy Vera wrote:

Yeah that is true, the exception to the rule on this forum and I am talking from my personal experience. Not hearsay throughout the internet. I have a mate who bought a pair of MTB wheels from DH and he is more than happy with the product and service but he doesn't even come on this forum, how many more people like that could there be?

I 'googled' DH as someone suggested and guess what came up? This forum as well as a couple of other forums, with people moaning about him, could they be the same people hiding behind different identities? :shock:

DH from what I can see is a LBS taking on the big boys with fantastic prices. Fair enough he won't get it right everytime but he is human. Wiggle are a dedicated mail order outfit with after service staff etc off course they are going to get it right more often than DH.

Obviously, we can all agree to disagree, but I thought I would share my shopping experience.

Thank you for sharing; I would share this:

ASA adjudication against Hinde for advertising products he doesn't have, and for failing to refund customers; This is not hearsay.

I would also like to share the incredibly offensive and potentially libellous eBay feedback that Hinde left for customers This is not hearsay, this is what came from Hinde's own keyboard!

Yes, you and your mate may have been lucky, and probably a majority of customers think all is fine (lets hope they don't weigh the bikes they bought with the very overoptimistic claims in the advertising). But a significant minority have had a dreadful experience, This is not hearsay.

Hinde revealed his warped and perverse ways again only last month in the Cycling Weekly advert where he called all other bikes "shite". This is not hearsay. It is an advert penned and paid for by Hinde.

You want to give money to this sort or person? I feel sorry for you! Really.

p.s. reporting the experience "of a mate" is exactly what hearsay is!

cjw

And this is hs new trading site feedback on ebay;

http://feedback.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI ... terval=365

Even the neutral feedback is about the same, victims (sorry customers) tell the same story but are just gratefull that something arrived after a few weeks;

http://feedback.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI ... ch=neutral

Percy Vera

I came to share my shopping experience with DH not defend DH in any way. Tom Butcher had an awful experience, and I'm glad my experience wasn't like that. (I know Tom Butcher is a real person).

alfablue wrote:

Thank you for sharing; I would share this:

ASA adjudication against Hinde for advertising products he doesn't have, and for failing to refund customers; This is not hearsay.

If you bothered to read the whole thread I've already mentioned this, along with quite a few before me, one person from 2004.

alfablue wrote:

I would also like to share the incredibly offensive and potentially libellous eBay feedback that Hinde left for customers This is not hearsay, this is what came from Hinde's own keyboard!

Already checked it, and yes there are some unhappy customers, but which business can please everyone, all of the time? And where did I say everyone is happy. I was talking about my personal shopping experience.

alfablue wrote:

Yes, you and your mate may have been lucky, and probably a majority of customers think all is fine (lets hope they don't weigh the bikes they bought with the very overoptimistic claims in the advertising). But a significant minority have had a dreadful experience, This is not hearsay.

Maybe we were lucky, but that is how my and my mates shopping experience went!

alfablue wrote:

Hinde revealed his warped and perverse ways again only last month in the Cycling Weekly advert where he called all other bikes "shite". This is not hearsay. It is an advert penned and paid for by Hinde.

So now we are on to his advertising methods. I am no marketing guru but It seems to have worked you are still talking about it the following week!

alfablue wrote:

You want to give money to this sort or person? I feel sorry for you! Really.

Why? The guy delivered to me on what he said! If I was waiting on Paul Hewitt to get back to me I would still be without a set of wheels, riding my bike like Fred Flintstone!

alfablue wrote:

p.s. reporting the experience "of a mate" is exactly what hearsay is!

Incorrect.
Hearsay: unverified, unofficial information gained or acquired from another and not part of one's direct knowledge

This is part of my direct knowledge. I was there when my mate ordered the wheels and when the wheels arrived.

As I said I am not here to defend DH on his other transactions, but just to tell you of my shopping experience. I won't be posting in this thread again as I am getting dragged into a debate on DH's customer service, which my first hand experience has been good.

alfablue How did your shopping experience go with him?


cjw you forgot to post the 4660 positive feedback along with the 25 negative in the last 12 months. :shock:

top_bhoy

Tom Butcher is a real person...surely hearsay, unless you know him/her personally. He in fact could be a 'she' - an ex-partner of DH out to be vindictive. You have no idea.

I believe the story though and one read of Tom Butchers experience would be enough not to go near the place. Its one thing to be incompetent, even tell porkies over delivery, etc but its the magnitude of this deceit which I can't fathom.

Percy Vera

Top_Bhoy wrote:

Tom Butcher is a real person...surely hearsay, unless you know him/her personally. He in fact could be a 'she' - an ex-partner of DH out to be vindictive. You have no idea.

I believe the story though and one read of Tom Butchers experience would be enough not to go near the place. Its one thing to be incompetent, even tell porkies over delivery, etc but its the magnitude of this deceit which I can't fathom.

You've sucked me in again!

I know Tom Butcher to be a real person because he is a member of Derby Mercury which I will be joining in the new year! If they let me off course after buying from DH

Yes as I have already said, I agree his experience was awful and there can be no excuse for that! And yes after reading Tom's experience it will make me think twice.

cjw

Yes there are 4660 positive posts - and many of them also say arrived late. If you look at other ebay bikes shops they also have many many thousand positive posts as well and (generally) only very few negatives. Whenever dealing with a company I want to know how they deal with you when something goes wrong - this is when they can stand or fall.

From the reputable companies, problems have always been sorted immediately and with an appology, fast response to emails, calls.

From this guy his approach used to be to 'Haa haa ruined your rep" by posting vitriole and abuse in the ebay feedback (this was why ebay had to change the rules for feedback from Sellers; although tbh, now there seem to be a lot of buyers trying it on) same as his response to people on the phone.

Anyway.... goodluck to you in continuing to buy from him, hopefully it will always go well.

Percy Vera

I've been sucked in again!

cjw wrote:

Anyway.... goodluck to you in continuing to buy from him, hopefully it will always go well.

Did you read my last post? And yes after reading Tom's experience it will make me think twice.

So, it should read, if you continue to buy from him

cjw

Yes, you posted whilst I was typing mine